The investigation into the presence of child sexual abuse networks on TikTok is beginning to have direct consequences for the platform’s advertising business. Banco Santander, Verisure, Eroski, Moeve, Starbucks, Nescafé and El Corte Inglés have decided to suspend their campaigns after Maldita.es documented how advertisements from large companies appear immediately before or after publications that sexualize minors or come from accounts linked to the distribution of child sexual abuse material. The decisions place brand safety at the center of a crisis that until now had been mainly caused by deficiencies in moderation and the protection of minors.

Moeve has confirmed directly to reason.Why the withdrawal of its advertising investment and the suspension of its organic activity. “We have canceled advertising and suspended organic publications”said Marta Llorente, Head of National Media Relations for the company, in response to our query.
Verisure has also decided to suspend its advertising investment and organic activity on TikTok following the Maldita.es revelations. The company has confirmed to reason.Why which has dedicated the morning of this Friday, November 13, to analyzing the situation and managing its response, and which has finally chosen to paralyze both activities as a preventive measure. The decision will be kept pending the evolution of the proceedings opened by the Prosecutor’s Office and the events related to the investigation.

Eroski has also announced the precautionary suspension of its advertising and the publication of new audiovisual content on TikTok. The company has issued a press release following our request for information, in which it confirms that the measure has become effective and expresses its “absolute rejection” to any form of child sexual abuse and exploitation and considers that “The protection of minors must come before any commercial interest”. The company will maintain the suspension while it reviews the conditions and security guarantees of its digital activity, and demands effective measures from the platforms to prevent, detect and eliminate this content, as well as prevent its dissemination and monetization.

Nestlé has also immediately suspended all Nescafé Dolce Gusto advertising on TikTok, as confirmed to reason.Why. The company considers “absolutely unacceptable” any association of its brands with this content and is urgently investigating what happened together with TikTok and its media agencies to adopt new measures.
For its part, Starbucks has also confirmed to reason.Why blocking all your activity on TikTok, both advertising and organic. The company is evaluating other measures and reviewing its action protocols on the platform.

El Corte Inglés and Banco Santander have also paused their advertising campaigns on TikTok, according to reports The Country. Santander, in addition, would have also canceled all new activity in its account on the platform. Companies like Moeve or this bank condition their return on the platform offering sufficient guarantees to control the circulation of this type of material and prevent their advertisements from appearing again next to this content.

These decisions represent the first known advertising withdrawals in Spain as a result of the investigation. Added to this is the reaction of Aldeas Infantiles, which has announced the cessation of its activity on TikTok. “Zero tolerance for any form of violence against children, also digitally. And to the people affected: you are not alone”the organization has expressed through X.

From reason.Why We have contacted the rest of the brands mentioned in the Maldita.es investigation to find out their position and find out if they are considering suspending their campaigns and organic activity, reviewing their advertising security policies or adopting other measures regarding their presence on TikTok.

Ads from 21 brands appear next to abusive content

The decisions of the advertising brands come after the publication of the fifth and final installment of the investigation “TikTok, the home of the pedophile”, prepared by Maldita.es.

During just two hours of browsing on the morning of November 5, journalists identified 21 ads from major brands that appeared immediately before or after posts related to child sexual abuse.
Documented advertisers include Adobe, Samsung, Starbucks, Colgate, Banco Santander, Milka, Eroski, Holded, Booking, Cheetos, Verisure, Kia, Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Apple, JD Sports, Philips, Cola Cao, Pringles, Moeve, Ralph Lauren and El Corte Inglés. The observation was made from an account used to investigate these networks, whose activity history had led the TikTok algorithm to recommend posts of this nature.

The advertising, in all cases, appeared interspersed between consecutive publications, so that a user could go from potentially illegal content to a commercial communication from a recognized brand with a single scroll of the screen.

The research raises a very delicate question for the advertising industry: to what extent brands can control the context in which their campaigns appear when distribution depends on algorithmic systems.
Brand safety includes mechanisms designed to prevent advertising from being associated with content that is harmful to the reputation of advertisers. However, Maldita.es’ findings show that the separation between advertising and risky content may be insufficient even when it comes to extremely serious materials.

The investigation does not demonstrate that the brands knew about or approved of these placements, nor does it determine what exclusion tools they had contracted or activated. Nor is it a representative measurement of all advertising distributed on TikTok. What it does document is that advertising recommendation and distribution systems allowed advertisements from large companies to appear next to publications linked to child sexual abuse.

The decisions of large advertising brands now introduce a business consequence for TikTok with the loss of advertising investment and commercial activity on the platform. They also put some pressure on the State Attorney General’s Office, which is currently maintaining open proceedings and whose investigation is being managed by the prosecutor of the Coordinating Chamber against Computer Crime, Elvira Tejada.
The Government has also demanded measures from the platform and the Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, has even raised the possibility of suspending TikTok’s activity in Spain if it does not act to prevent the circulation of this content.

Meanwhile, the reaction from advertisers could mark the beginning of a broader review of ad spending on TikTok. Its scope will depend on the responses of the rest of the brands, the measures adopted by the platform and the guarantees it is able to offer.

*We will continue to collect the position of the companies identified in the investigation and this information will be updated as new decisions are made known.